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Arrangements have been concluded by the Nigerian Army to court-martial 16 soldiers over the April 14, 2014, abduction of hundreds of students of the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State in the troubled North-East. Over 200 of the girls remain in Boko Haram’s custody despite global outrage over the development.

A report this morning in The PUNCH said that three of the soldiers slated for trial over the incident are officers while the remaining 13 soldiers belong to other ranks.

“Barring any last-minute change, they would appear before the General Court Martial at the Maxwell Khobe Military Cantonment, Rukuba, Jos in Plateau State after the Sallah holidays.

The officers are Lieutenant Col. A. O. Ojo, Capt. O. O. Ogunrinde, and 2nd Lieutenant V.I. Godknows,” the paper said.

It disclosed that the 16 are among 117 soldiers facing a GCM convened by the General Officer Commanding 1 Division of the Army in Kaduna, Maj.-Gen. K. C. Osuji, on August 6, 2014.

“A source said their trial would take place at the headquarters of the 3rd Armoured Division, Rukuba in Jos for security reasons,” the report said.

Lt.-Col. Ojo, according to The PUNCH, was the Unit Commander in Biu as at the time of the abduction and “was summoned to the GCM in relation with the conflict in the number of girls said to have been abducted by Boko Haram insurgents and those rescued at the time of the incident. The officer is also being charged for alleged failure to reinforce the Chibok community when the incident occurred.”

The paper said that “the officers were being charged for failure to perform military duty, an offence that attracts a maximum of two years’ imprisonment.”

•Photo shows some of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls as appeared in a Boko Haram video.

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